Biden tries to tamp down Clinton health concerns

Vice President Joe Biden downplayed Hillary Clinton's health scare from over the weekend, sharing some thoughts on Monday about his own recovery from pneumonia while also urging that she get enough time off the campaign trail.

"Hillary's health is good. I've had pneumonia," Biden said before starting a speech on education in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to pool reports. "I've had walking pneumonia. What you do, you take antibiotics and you rest a little bit."

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He added, “I’m encouraging her — if the doctor says take three days off, take six days off.”

Clinton departed a 9/11 memorial service in New York on Sunday morning after feeling “overheated,” which her campaign later confirmed was related to a pneumonia diagnosis she received two days prior to the event.

"She's been transparent about her health," Biden said. "So we're in good shape."

Biden returned to the topic later Monday during a stop at a diner in Rock Hill, South Carolina, near Charlotte.

"Look, when you run the schedule we run — 14, 15 hours a day — I've had walking pneumonia, last year," the vice president told reporters, according to a pool report. "And you know what it takes? It takes antibiotics and it takes getting through a thick skull like Hillary's and mine to slow down."

Biden said he had spoken with the Clinton campaign on Monday afternoon, "and they're going to make the doctors available to talk to you guys," he said. The campaign has not publicly committed to making Clinton's physician, Lisa Bardack, available for questions.

He also weighed in on the criticism of the campaign's handling of Clinton's health scare, seemingly contradicting his earlier claim that she had been "transparent."

"They screwed up," he said. "The staff acknowledged that they should have, on Friday, just straight up said she's been diagnosed with pneumonia."

Biden then volunteered some unsolicited advice for Clinton ahead of her upcoming debate with her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

"I think what we should be focusing on is what Hillary is going to do, what she's about," the vice president said. "Everybody already knows that there's a side of [Trump] that is not serious. You talk about Hillary's negatives — his negatives are even higher. We should be talking about how she is going to keep the economy growing. She knows exactly what she wants to do."

And Biden challenged Trump to prove that he is as healthy as he claims to be: "I'd like to jog with him. I don't think he could keep up."

Biden also attended several political events on behalf of Democrats, including a fundraiser for his former aide Fran Person, who is seeking to unseat South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, and another for North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running for governor.